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Monday, May 21, 2012

Bloggers' Quilt Festival

It's time for the Bloggers' Quilt Festival. So many quilts to look at and new quilters to follow - and possible new friends too. Click on the link above or the button at the bottom of this post for the festival.

My entry is the first painted quilt I did using LuAnn Kessi's technique. This is my nephew, my daughter and her husband. I love this little quilt!


Things I learnt while making this piece:
  • less is definitely more. Stop when you still think you have more to add and it will look just right.
  • Curls don't need to be painted. An impression of curly hair is enough
  • lips are only dark in the corners
  • in fact, the main thing I learnt was to really look at the photograph and see where to apply highlights and shadows
  • let your paint dry before adding the shadows. It makes it less muddy looking.
  • Blonde hair that has darkened to a fair brown is really difficult to replicate!
  • The flange border (the cream bit) makes a good frame but remember to allow for seam allowance and the depth of the flange when trimming the painting square.

This is the original photo after I had manipulated it in FastStone. It printed out a little lighter than this. I think I would have preferred it darker and I have tried darker prints since then with interesting results. They look a little freaky before painting!
I print on to a piece of fabric ironed to the back of an A4 sheet of freezer paper. My printer only goes up to A4 which limits the size. I have access to an A3 printer so I may do some bigger ones soon.

As you can see, I only really quilted the background and the border. I outlined the main shapes with coloured thread.


Have a look at the festival by clicking on the button below.

Amy's Creative Side

12 comments:

  1. Wonderful portrait quilt! One to be cherished for a lifetime.

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  2. Love quilt portraits... YOU did a lovely job of it... I have always had trouble with NOSES.


    NONNIE

    /

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  3. What an awesome portrait quilt! What a treasure that quilt will be for your family for years to come.

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  4. What a great technique. I had not seen this before. Kudos to you for such a wonderful result.

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  5. What a fantastic portrait quilt! Thanks for sharing.

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  6. Wow, that is incredible! Great job!

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  7. Wow!! I love it. It's beautiful!!

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  8. Thanks for sharing about your process - that's a lovely quilt!

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  9. Beautiful portraits! Lovely treasure for the generations.
    Have a great day.
    Always, Queenie

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  10. I love portraits doing portraits too ( see www.fab-lover.blogspot.com). I'm keeping a notebook of things I learn as I go along and I agree noses and mouths are problems sometimes. I haven't painted a portrait yet, except with fabric, but would love to try this technique. Thanks for sharing.

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  11. Just wanted to stop and say thank you for stopping by my blog and commenting. I didn't see an email option.

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